It is often said that we can achieve more as group/ team / neighbourhood than we can as individuals.  We all have  interests, gifts, and skills. When we share those in the community or in a group we can find a sense of belonging, relationships, and our commu...

My Aunt Noel recently wrote a short book The Pearl Street Flood, about my Grandpa, Charlie Erpenbeck. It is a story of survival, courage, community and love. My Grandpa died before I was born and my Dad has told me stories over the years of his father and h...

Last night as I was biking, I ran into a road block of geese who were enjoying a shower. I met a woman who discovered as she was watering her plants the geese and ducks would gather nearby even though there’s an ocean just yards away. The geese now drop ...

Yanni’s Greek Grill is on the north side of Columbus. It has been there for over 20 years. The food is delicious and the place is very welcoming. The server ( and community builder) engages with everyone and  on this night facilitated a group conversati...

A topic that has come up often is how do we do good community building work that is citizen driven and builds on the assets when we are working within a system. There are often rules, procedures, and limitations that get in our way. Many of these may be real, ...

It was  inspiring to host a day of conversation on community building. We invited 5 community organizers and innovators to share their story with us. We looked at what drives us in our work, partnerships we can build, challenges we face, and next steps we can...

For over 125 years, a church has stood at the corner of York and Court Streets in Newport, Kentucky. I was traveling through this neighbourhood and noticed the massive structure entirely made of stone. Driven by my insatiable curiosity, I opened the front door...

As a City Councillor, Matthew Green’s commitment to Asset Base Community Development practices while in office has made a meaningful difference for residents. His constituency, has 4 of the 11 ‘Code Red’ priority neighbourhood hubs that are organized...

What if we believed in an economy of abundance, rather than one of scarcity? What if we focused on assets and opportunities, instead of needs and deficits? These will be some of the questions Sheldon Johnson, Managing Director at the Community Development and ...

Krista Tippet wrote in Becoming Wise, “Seismic shifts in common life as in geo-physical reality begin in spaces and cracks.” One of the these spaces where seismic shifts generate from is Thunder Sky Inc. in Cincinnati, OH. The founders of Thunder S...